Break
by clover bookcat
Summary: Even the adolescent saviors of the world have to sit back and take a breather every once in a while. A look at what everyday life can be like for the Pokedex Holders.
1. Open Book

**A/N: A plot bunny decided to bite me and not let go a couple of weeks ago. This, piled with a recent craving for Pokespe family bonding fluff, has resulted in this ficlet. The plot bunny clinging to my left toe demands that it be expanded with focus on multiple characters, and I have some ideas I'd like to experiment with...but I'm not making any promises.**

**Warning: MangaQuestShipping (Gold/Crys) headed straight ahead.**

**Disclaimer: Guess what? I don't own Pokespecial. What? You already guessed that? Give the reader a prize!**

* * *

"I'd like to ask a favor."

He should have known there would be trouble. He could smell it in the air – and since he tended to attract it, Gold could often detect when it was best to flee and not to fight. Not that he couldn't fight if he had to, of course, but it wasn't like he _wanted_ to start fights with leaders of criminal organizations and pseudo-legendary monsters.

Not on purpose, anyway.

So of course, when responsible, super-organized-lab-assistant Crys came asking him for a favor, Gold instinctively knew that something would go wrong.

After all, what reputedly sane person came asking _Gold of New Bark Town_ for favors?

At first, he'd tried to get out of it; attempted other options.

It turned out that Crys was one step ahead of him.

"I can't leave the lab until after eleven tonight because I've got to finish this report, and Emerald can't come because he's taking the day off with Sapphire and Ruby, and Professor Oak and Professor Elm are conducting a co-commentary up at Goldenrod this afternoon and won't be back until tomorrow morning since there was an electrical problem with the shuttle," she had rattled off.

Several steps, in fact. Go figure.

Gold would heavily argue that he only agreed to the job because Crys had run out of options and, knowing her, had probably even tried to contact freaking _Silver_ from wherever the hell he was right now before turning to him. Not that she would have been able to – the ass couldn't even be bothered drop a call to inform them that yes, he was still alive, and had probably told Blue to act like he'd dropped off the face of the planet while he was at it, since he knew Silver would never risk losing communication with her.

"Please…for me? I'll owe you."

Secretly, Gold was willing to admit to himself that he really needed to find a way around Crys' puppy-dog eyes.

It wasn't until after she had offered him a smile and left him standing on the door to the orphanage that Gold remembered why he'd been against the idea in the first place.

He sucked at babysitting.

It wasn't that he didn't have any experience. In fact, Gold earned much of his own allowance from sitting for Granny down at the Day Care Center. There was, however, a distinct line between babysitting a baby Pokemon that didn't even know how to walk – elemental powers notwithstanding – and…well, some random five-year old kid.

As it happened, they both had something in common – they loved to humiliate him.

"Hey, big brother," the girl asked innocently from her seat at the table, "is it true you like Miss Crys?"

Gold nearly dropped the plate he had been washing at the sink._ "What?"_

"I heard," she went on cheerfully, "that you would do anything for her. That you're 'head over heels' for her."

Gold's mind raced. Five-year-olds shouldn't be this interested in the affairs of others, damn it. "Oh, yeah?"

"Uh-huh. Actually, it's not just me. Stan and the others thought so, too."

Slowly, he set the plate on a shelf to dry and turned to face her. "Really? And where'd you get that idea, little lady? Because I –"

"Aha! Denial," she said, and pointed at him triumphantly. "So you do like her."

There was definitely something wrong with this kid. "Look, if 'Miss Crys' thought I really liked her that way, she'd probably kick me in the – in sensitive parts of my body that should not usually be kicked," he said lamely, and shuddered.

"But you're not saying you don't like her," she said. The look on the girl's face was smug, and Gold thought he had seen it before. "You don't treat us the same way you treat her. I think that's suspicious."

Gold gave a half-hearted shrug. "Different people deserve different treatment, kid."

"But that's not the _same_," she said impatiently. He felt like he was being chided, berated, by this little girl who was running circles through his head. Yep, definitely familiar. "How so?"

She paused, then said slowly, "You're awkward around her. You can never give her a straight answer because looking at her face makes you blush, and the last time she noticed she thought you were sick and offered to take care of you. You pout when she doesn't pay attention to you. You get jealous if she's busy with someone else." Gold opened his mouth to retort, but she was on a roll. Her eyes were lit with enthusiasm, and she clasped her hands together as if it was a performance she was destined to give. "I heard from Miss Crys that you protected her during the battle with that scary Masked Man. You took the hits that were supposed to hit her. You thought she was cute the first time you saw her. You pretend like she doesn't have you wrapped around her finger, and you always help out when she asks. Sometimes she doesn't ask. Oh, and you never come to see her because you're afraid she's figured out you like her, even though Miss Crys is totally convinced you hate her and it makes her sad." She crossed her arms, looking at him expectantly.

Slowly, he sank into the chair across from her and put his head in his hands. "Is it really that obvious?"

"Mm-hmm."

He groaned, because he had just been ousted and completely seen through by a _five-year-old little girl_, and it was a sharp kick to his intelligence that was already taking direct hits every day. After a while, he looked back up at her suspiciously. He'd had this conversation before. "Tell me, little lady, did you happen to meet a girl with brown hair, blue eyes, and a..._shapely _figure sometime recently?"

She thought about it. "Yeah, I did. She comes to the orphanage sometimes, and she asks us how we're doing."

Gold went back to groaning in his hands. It shouldn't really have surprised him, considering most of the women he knew tended to have a soft spot for kids – or Pokemon, in Yellow's case – and Blue had the whole previously-an-abandoned-orphan complex to deal with, but this was his privacy they were talking about, damn it.

The little girl poked him cautiously. "Big brother? Does your stomach hurt?"

Gold shook his head. "Nah, just my pride." Several seconds passed before he jerked his head up sharply from the table. "Wait. What did you say about that last one?"

* * *

After receiving a solemn promise from the little girl named Anne that she would tell no one of their conversation in the kitchen, he whipped out his 'gear and dialed Silver's number. He had expected to receive the usual monotone answering machine, since the asshole never picked up, and even had a whole rant that he'd planned to yell via speaker.

"Hello?"

Silver had always had the best of timing.

"Tell your lovely sister," Gold said darkly, "to stop getting other people involved in my personal life. Or at least the kids at the orphanage, unless you _want_ me to get killed."

A long pause. "…What?"

Gold hung up.

Over in Kanto, a red-headed boy dressed in black heaved a weary sigh and unpaused a separate phone call on his Pokegear. "I really think this may be turning into a bad habit, sis."

A giggle could be heard from the other end of the device. "But they're so much fun to tease!"

* * *

**A/N: Yes, Blue. Yes they are.**

**And can someone explain to me the reason why I keep using her to manipulate characters in my writing? *beat*...Perhaps the best way to solve this problem is some OldRivalShipping. Truth be told, I don't think I've ever written Blue/Green interaction before...Hm.**

**I hope you enjoyed, and please feel free to give me any thoughts or ideas you may have on this! Constructive critism is greatly appreciated.**


	2. Haircut

**A/N: So, sitting in a car for twelve hours while listening to music can do wonders for a person's inspiration.**

**Disclaimer: I think they should add 'fanfiction' to the dictionary just so that there will be a way for companies to understand that fans own no copyrights. (Not to mention it would put an end to these disclaimers, but I think they're fun so I won't complain.)**

* * *

"Where on earth did I put them?" Crystal asked, frustrated. She slammed the drawer shut with a loud bang. Silver watched her uneasily.

He was sitting at her kitchen table, a spare blanket thrown over his shoulders. His long red hair lay strewn out over the cloth, and the whole set up was starting to irritate him because it was the middle of August and it was _hot._

All Silver had wanted that morning was to cut his hair, not short but trim it a bit, as he always did when Blue wasn't around to do it for him, which would have made the situation over and done with. Unfortunately for him, a run-in with Gold on his trip to look for ingredients to make dinner that morning had rendered his plans useless.

Gold had poked and prodded and made fun of his masculinity until Silver had given in and let himself be dragged to Crys' house. She, after welcoming them in for a drink, commented on how stuffy he must feel with such long, thick hair. (He ignored the slightly envious tone in her voice, because quite honestly he didn't want to think that girls looked at him as a rival for outer appearances and Gold already had enough material to annoy him as it was.) Gold's timing, at least, was impeccable, and Crystal had offered to cut it if only because looking at him made the heat even more unbearable. Gold, having no desire to watch, took his billiard to practice his shooting outside. Between the banging of doors Crys made as she searched the room, Silver could hear the sound of pokéballs being hit against the wall of the house.

"Found them!" Crystal exclaimed at last, triumphantly holding up the metal pair of scissors she had discovered hidden in a corner. She turned back to him. "Sorry for the wait. Shall we get started?"

Gently, she took a strand of hair between her fingers and began to snip. After a while, her movements fell into a rythmic pattern, and bits of his red hair fell to the floor. The soft slicing of the scissors, combined with the sweltering heat, was oddly relaxing.

"You really do have beautiful hair," Crystal hummed. Silver knew it was meant to be a compliment, but it was still embarrassing how many girls seemed to wish they had his looks. Including _Blue_, which just added to the humiliation.

The lethargic atmosphere was shattered when a ball ricocheted through the open window, spinning with force and bouncing off the walls. Crystal let out a little shriek and the pair of scissors she held jolted out of her hands. Hastily, she ducked under the table. Half a second and barely being missed by the rebound later, Silver joined her.

There were ten bounces and two distinct crashes before the room was quiet.

A yell came from outside. "Sorry!" Gold called. "The angle was weird!"

"I can see that, thanks!" Crystal shouted back. "You'd better be glad that the window was open or I'd have sued you for damages!" She paused, peering into the hallway. "Actually, I _will_ sue you for damages since I think you crashed our vase, you idiot! That was valuable!"

Silver, meanwhile, noticed a shiny metal object lying on the floor directly across from him. Two, in fact. "Are those your scissors, Crys?"

Crys looked and gave a little moan. "Those were our best pair, too. Great. Now I'm going to have to buy new ones before I work on the paperwork for tomorrow. I swear, the heat and now this. This just isn't a –"

Abruptly, she broke off. It took Silver a minute to realize her gaze was frozen on him.

"Is something wrong?"

Slowly, she nodded and left the cover of the table. He followed suit. When she returned, she was holding a mirror. His heart sank, because he felt he already knew what the problem was.

Sure enough, when he looked at his reflection, his normally smooth and flat hair was sticking up at a very awkward angle at the back. It looked a lot like an antenna.

Crystal apologized profusely. "It must have been when the ball flew in – I wasn't thinking and I felt my hand jerk, but I must have clenched my fist and accidentally chopped something off. I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to…"

Gold, the prime offender responsible for his new hairstyle, found it absolutely hilarious. After coming back in to see how much damage he had caused, he had broken into a laughing fit. "It suits you, pretty boy!" he cackled, clutching at his stomach.

"Gold, don't be so rude," Crys scolded him.

The other boy wiped at his eyes and attempted to make a face that wasn't a smirk. He settled on looking like he'd just swallowed something sour. "I don't see why you're so freaked out about this, prez. In case you forgot, our senior Red has a mountain on his head and Green can't wear hats because his spikes would poke holes in 'em. Radar-boy here isn't the weirdest showcase around." He tapped his forehead. "And by the way, my hair is approximately the size of my face, so I have a right to say that."

"But still, I –"

Silver was beginning to heartily wish he hadn't stepped outside his house at all anymore. "It's fine, Crys. Really. You don't have to feel responsible, and besides, it's just hair. I can grow it long."

At this, Gold couldn't contain himself and let out another peal of laughter. "Gee, I wonder how much more you'll look like a girl after this? Maybe your sister can give you fashion tips!"

Finally, his frustration from the heat, his friend's prodding, and the day in general getting the better of his already stretched self-control, Silver reached into his pocket and removed a pocket ball. Gold reacted immediately, launching himself over the table towards the door. With practiced patience, Silver followed him, calling over his shoulder: "I'll be willing to pay for any damages in the garden, Crys."

Crystal gave a sigh, then went about looking for a broom. Maybe if she was quick, she could make lunch before she'd have to hunt for a first-aid kit.

* * *

**A/N: Just one of the many theories I'm sure are out there concerning Silver's sudden ahoge sprouting in HGSS (because seriously, I can't imagine him making his hair that way _willingly_). To be honest, I don't like how this piece came out. Seems too rushed to me. Meh, better than spending a year and a half working on it like I do with my other stuff, I suppose, and it's not meant to be serious anyway.**

**Yeah…even though my interest in Pokespe is waning, I still write about the Johto trio. I can't decide whether it's because of force of habit or nostalgia.**


	3. Rapunzel

**A/N: Gracious, I'm uploading something without working on the piece for over a month! I think it's a surge of inspiration. Wonder how long it'll last. **

**I don't really read much Red/Yellow, come to think of it. I'll call this an experiment.**

**Warnings: Red/Yellow, yeah. Also Red sorta-kinda understanding his feelings, but not really. Well, hey, it's _Red_.**

**Disclaimer: Ho, hum, diddleedum, this franchise I do not own!**

* * *

He loved her hair.

Admittedly, he hadn't realized that her hair – or rather _his_, at the time – had been so long. But even before Yellow took off her hat, he'd envied her golden locks. Seeing her ponytail had turned his minor bout of jealousy into wonder and admiration.

Unfortunately, the removal of her hat was all too rare, at least in his opinion, and whenever she did take it off it was always when they were fighting or escaping or doing something important like saving the world. It was never the time or the place to want to fondle it, run it through his fingers, even though the problem was that was all he ever wanted to do _every single damn time._

It came as a surprise for him, then, when he found her curled up under a tree with her sketchbook in her arms and her hat held in place with a pebble beside her. Wisps of blond hair were sticking close to her mouth because she drooled in her sleep, which he knew she hated because she got embarrassed no matter how much he thought it was cute, since he never told her so. Her face was scrunched up because Chuchu was settled on her chest, fast asleep, and making it hard for her to breathe.

Gently, he picked the yellow mouse up and moved her near Yellow's feet, where Pika joined her after jumping off his place on his shoulder. He nuzzled her a bit and, in her sleep, Chuchu gave a contented sigh. They cuddled together, and he amusedly thought they looked a lot like fluffy pillows.

Then the mouse turned and gave him a _look_.

After having spent several years getting to know one another, he now understood that Pika was much more intelligent than most humans gave him credit for. Lacking verbal communication, Pika chose to express his thoughts via simple eye contact, which varied from glares to comforting gazes of sympathy. This particular look meant something along the lines of, _"Quit staring, you idiot, and join us already."_

He backed away slowly. It wasn't like he didn't want to sit, but sitting near Yellow was a bit too far out of his comfort zone. He was dense, even he knew that, but it wasn't like he didn't understand sexual tension or hadn't thought about it. He was a soon-to-be-seventeen young man and he had the body to prove it. It was just a concept that he chose to ignore because he'd already seen how relationships complicated people (Sapphire and Ruby were a growing example), and as far as he was concerned a young man lying down next to a young woman (who was asleep, he emphasized this point) was already crossing several lines.

Pika snorted visibly. This translated to, "_You're such a wimp_."

He frowned. Pika understood precisely why he was feeling out of his league. His Pokémon was a parent and well past the 'courtship' phase, after all. And the little rat bastard knew it.

A flick of his tail. "_It's not that big a deal."_

So he said.

A pointed glance. "_And I know you want to anyway –" _he turned his gaze accusingly at Yellow_, "– so just get it over with."_

He hesitated, then sat down. Pika, satisfied, laid his head on Chuchu's fur and closed his eyes.

He was now, technically, alone. And that scared him, because he really did worry about the things a person could do to Yellow in her sleep. Like, say, running fingers through her silky hair. Which he really, really wanted to do, but knew he couldn't because doing that while somebody was asleep was just plain weird. Not to mention it would be really awkward if she woke up in the middle of it.

It wasn't fair how he was the only one who got worked up about this.

Yellow stirred next to him, her hair rustling in the grass. Without being fully conscious of what he was doing, he stretched his hand out and brushed a stray golden strand away from her closed eyes. She relaxed under his touch, but he stiffened at the contact. He made to pull away but Yellow, in a moment of dream-like intuition, reached up and latched on to his hand. He tugged, but she frowned in her sleep and gripped him harder.

"Don't," she murmured. "Don't leave me."

He relented. Even in her sleep, he couldn't refuse her.

Deciding he may as well accept his fate for the afternoon, he leaned back and rested his head on scratchy tree bark. As he closed his eyes, he saw Pika smirking from next to Chuchu.

He'd get him back later.

* * *

**A/N: Pointless oneshot is pointless. I'm starting to wonder if I have a hair fetish.**

**But seriously. Yellow should let her hair down more. It's pretty.**


End file.
